Mooners and Shakers: Crypto market on edge as Bitcoin seeks support ahead of Congress mining debate
Coinhead
Coinhead
The crypto market appears to be copying the US stock market almost beat for beat today after the latter opened for the first time this week following its day off yesterday.
And at the time of writing, the beat of the drum feels kinda slow and ominous, with Bitcoin (BTC) inching lower and little to shout about from leading altcoins, either.
The sign of worse things to come? Or just a healthy correction before a spring back up? Perhaps there are some nerves brewing ahead of a US Bitcoin mining hearing in Washington, D.C. later this week. More on that below…
With the overall crypto market cap down about 3% over the past 24 hours, here’s the state of play in the top 10 by market cap at the time of writing – according to CoinGecko data.
As the analyst Rekt Capital (282k Twitter followers… can’t be wrong, right?) points out, the OG crypto is pretty much resting bang on monthly support at the time of writing.
#BTC is sitting at Monthly support (blue)$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/phENIngMdk
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) January 18, 2022
Although with the correlated US stock market (S&P 500: -1.93%) looking weak today, and the inversely correlated US dollar (DXY: +0.58%) ticking up, that particular support level seems precarious.
Were not for $AAPL somewhat holding up, stock indices would be a true bloodbath
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) January 18, 2022
Scanning Crypto Twitter, there’s a prevailing unease about this week and the sense that something’s got to give… a dramatic move waiting to happen. If the heavy psychological support zone of US$40k breaks for BTC, things might get ugly short term.
We’re not there yet (at the time of writing) but if that level doesn’t hold, it’ll no doubt represent yet another opportunity for the true believers…
I have a feeling something in markets is going to break, and you know what happens after that.
I’ll give you a hint, it doesn’t include multiple rate hikes.
— Cantering Clark (@CanteringClark) January 18, 2022
As mentioned yesterday, the US government is turning its attention to Bitcoin mining on Thursday morning (EST) with a Congress subcommittee preparing to discuss the activity’s environmental impact in the United States – which now has by far the most Bitcoin mining production in the world in terms of hashrate, with about a 42% share.
A blanket ban on Bitcoin mining in the US, as we’ve seen in both China and Kosovo, would seem highly unlikely at this point, but the narrative of appeasing carbon-neutral aspirations is strong, as is the case against Bitcoin as an energy chewer. It’s something to be wary of, at the very least.
That said, the likes of MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor and others will be doing their very best to combat the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) lurking within Congress by pushing the innovations and take-up in sustainable Bitcoin mining in North America.
Join us Tuesday January 18 at 5pm EST for our Q4 briefing on the State of the #Bitcoin Mining Industry, with an update on hash rate, energy, efficiency, & sustainability metrics, along with briefings from a panel of BTC mining CEOs as well as Analyst Q&A.https://t.co/a3a6XRolAQ pic.twitter.com/Nmuy9aIlv5
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) January 14, 2022
And then there’s this piece of news just landed, too…
probably nothing https://t.co/eBUJw67CGY
— CRYPTO₿IRB (@crypto_birb) January 18, 2022
The US$224 billion dollar tech and microprocessor computer chip company Intel has announced it’s releasing a new chip it describes as an “ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC [application-specific integrated circuit]”.
Some extra ammo for the Bitcoin mining industry to keep the senatorial wolves (cough, Elizabeth, cough, Warren) at bay, perhaps?
Sweeping a market-cap range of about US$21.6 billion to about US$1.1 billion in the rest of the top 100, let’s find some of the biggest 24-hour gainers and losers at press time.
DAILY PUMPERS
• Stacks (STX), (mc: US$2.45b) +13.5%
• Theta Fuel (TFUEL), (mc: US$1.2b) +7%
• Ethereum Classic (ETC), (mc: US$4.4b) +7%
• Aave (AAVE), (mc: US$3.2b) +6%
• Mina Protocol (MINA), (mc: US$1.25b) +5.5%
Stacks, the Bitcoin network’s smart contracts and decentralised apps enabler, is getting a Coinbase listing, hence its nice move on a dipping market day.
❗️ @Stacks $STX to be listed on @Coinbase & @CoinbaseExch!
Trading will begin on or after 5:00 PM UTC on January 19th, if liquidity conditions are met.
👉 https://t.co/4mHpbZFx5R pic.twitter.com/fBtFZTJrEi
— 🇺🇦 CryptoDiffer – StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 (@CryptoDiffer) January 18, 2022
DAILY SLUMPERS
• Wonderland (TIME), (mc: US$1.14b) -10%
• Frax Share (FXS), (mc: US$1.1b) -9.5%
• Curve (CRV), (mc: US$1.7b) -8.5%
• Pocket Network (POKT), (market cap: US$1.37b) -8%
• Oasis (ROSE), (mc: US$1.6b) -8%
Moving below the crypto unicorns (in some cases well below), here’s just a selection catching our eye…
DAILY PUMPERS
• Propy (PRO), (market cap: US$235m) +33%
• Pivx (PIVX), (mc: US$39m) +28%
• UpBots (UBXT), (mc: US$11m) +21%
• Lisk (LSK), (mc: US$343m) +20%
• Cardstarter (CARDS), (market cap: US$60.5m) +18%
And Propy, an Ethereum-based project that powers real-estate transactions, is still riding high on its recent Coinbase listing, too…
The Propy token ($PRO) is featured on the Coinbase app. It feels great, but not because of the % change of the price. It is great bc US users (agents, RE investors, home buyers) can be part of the ecosystem hassle-free. Here’s a thread on the token role in the network. 🧵
— Natalia Karayaneva 🪁 (@NataliePropy) January 13, 2022
DAILY SLUMPERS
• Scream (SCREAM), (market cap: US$19m) -26%
• Redacted Cartel (BTRFLY), (market cap: US$241m) -26%
• Kuma Inu (KUMA), (mc: US$14.5m) -23%
• Popsicle Finance (ICE), (mc: US$150m) -21%
• Crypto Raiders (RAIDER), (mc: US$25m) -20%
“Everything is hard before it is easy.” – Goethe on #Bitcoin
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) January 18, 2022
Move over, #Bitcoin. It’s Gold’s time to shine ✨😉 pic.twitter.com/8H644YOkz2
— The Crypto Couple (@thecryptoc0up1e) January 17, 2022